A nation of friendly people

VASEMACA RARABICI (of Fidji) in Cape Coast, Ghana "Akwaba (welcome) to Ghana", the air hostess at the door of the plane said as I was about to disembark from the British Airways at Accra Airport, last Saturday.

The word was soothing but it did not seem to provide any comfort, especially after the heart-thumping landing that I just experienced.

My legs were still shaking and judging from the faces of other passengers, they were feeling sick in the stomach as well.

I was later told that only the best and experienced pilot fly to Ghana because it has one of the shortest runaways in the world. A plane has to land with so much force and power in order to lock the tyres and bring it to a halt immediately.

The impact of this rough landing saw passengers thrown forward and several overhead cabins open, dropping its contents on those sitting directly below.

I was sweating when the plane came to a stop

and for a moment there I thought I saw my whole life pass before me.

Everyone, cheered and clapped as the doors open to a cool star-lit night. The guy sitting next to me said this was a tradition every time a plane lands in Ghana.

He said it was sign of gratitude to the pilot for making a safe landing but to me it will always seem like a sign of "thank God I'm alive".

Ghana is extremely beautiful, just like the inflight magazines had promised, and the people are extraordinary with their friendliness.

For the past few days I've been here, I seem to get more convinced every day that the people of Ghana are the world's friendliest people. They make you feel at home immediately.

Everyone seem to go out of their way to help you in whatever little way they can. They will hold your hand, laugh and joke with you as if you have been friends for a long time.

This country is so similar to Fiji — everyone speaks English, same kind of weather, rivers and lakes, green vegetation and the vast blue ocean.

But the food is totally exotic to Africa. The names itself made me reluctant to try it out at first but now I'm hooked on Tilipia and Banku.

This is a meal of fish, spiced with African herbs and cooked over open fire. It's served with oatmeal and sauce.

To wash the meal down, I introduce my new found friend — Gordons Spark. Made in Africa, this sparkling drink has a fruity African flavour with a splash of 5.5 per cent gin.

The capital city, Accra, is massive and in a day there could be more than a million people roaming the streets, so you can imagine how crowded, sweaty and smelly it is.

The most striking feature of this city is the markets that stretch for miles selling everything that you need from food, clothes, shoes to furniture and the latest in technology.

These markets are often makeshift sheds erected wherever anyone can find a space.

Hundred others line the road and walk among the heavy traffic selling their goods. You have to understand their currency very well to make a good bargain.

I'm still confused with the Cedis, which is Ghana's currency. I called London twice from my hotel and the bill amounted to 5million Cedis. I freaked out because it sounded so much but this was only equivalent to $F288.

Things are quite cheap in Ghana. A standard taxi fare costs 600 cedis (80 cents), a decent meal 28,000 cedi's ($1.50), a drink 10,000 cedis (50 cents).

Notes start at 1000 cedis so you can imagine the amount of money one has to carry around. A purse would do you no good in this country so I'm making do with a plastic bag at the moment.

Last Sunday was spent meeting and getting to know the rest of the youths from Commonwealth countries — Fiji, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad, Cameroon, Gambia, South Africa, Bangladesh, Nigeria and the hosts.

We are here to attend next week's Royal Commonwealth Society International Conference.

For the past few days we have been doing projects around the country, which we will then submit a report during the conference.

My project partner is Samuel from Nigeria and we are based here in Cape Coast. We had taken a three hour bus ride from the Capital on Tuesday, travelling inland then along the coast.

Our project is on Child Rights in Ghana. We are being overseen by the Child Rights International (CRI), a non-government organisation.

The executive officer, Alfred Kofi Appiah, has arranged for us to visit several of their projects here in Cape Coast, which include visits to several schools.

CRI has established 14 Child Rights clubs in selected schools in Ghana with the aim to educate students on their rights and responsibilities.

It also involves building capacity of students to be able to effectively participate in the discussions of issues that bothers on the promotion and protection of the rights and welfare of children.

Our work is to interact with the students and teachers, ask them about what they have learnt and what they could do for their less fortunate peers who have had their rights violated physically, socially, mentally and spiritually.

We visited two schools on Wednesday, including the Mfantsipim Boys School, which has more than 1700 students. This is the same school that the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan attended and graduated from.

Thursday was a national holiday so we went for a picnic on the invitation of staff at Wesley Girls School. The school is Ghana's biggest boarding school with more than 2000 students.

I was so glad when everyone answered 'yes', when I asked them if they knew where Fiji was on the map. They wanted to know more about Fiji and after all my stories, they were hooked and they all hoped to one day pay us a visit.

In Africa, Cape Coast has a lot of history attached to it. This is where millions of slaves from Africa were taken across to America.

Thousands never made it across because of the harsh conditions they encountered onboard the ship. We also visited the Castles where the slaves were said to have been locked in and chained around their necks, as they awaited their journey.

Before I forget, the lizards here in Cape Coast are bigger and longer than our iguanas. They roam the place like dogs and cats, keeping me on my feet all the time.

My colleague Samuel is getting very frustrated with my screaming and running indoors whenever I see one of these creepy reptiles.

And for those who love reggae music, like I do, Africa is the place to be. Reggae is part of their life here and everywhere you go there's bound to be Bob Marley, Lucky Dube, Alpha Blondey, Jimmy Cliff and UB40 music playing and people jiving to it.

Ghana is fun and the people are interesting with their unique culture and tradition. I would not mind staying longer and already I'm going places on foot as if I was at home in Rakiraki.

You could walk their streets at night, pass a group of men and no one bothers you. All you hear is hello, good evening and welcome. A few women I met on the streets said Ghana is the most peaceful place in Africa and already I'm starting to believe this.

Well, I think I've said enough for one week. I've got to pen off now because Samuel reckons I have spent more time in this internet shop then I had promised.

I hope you will enjoy the coming week because I'll definitely enjoy mine. You take care and hope to meet you here again same time, same place.

I will bring you more stories on my visit to the wild life, the night life and more on the people and the country. Until then its farewell from Abura Town, Cape Coast, Ghana.